Zimbabwe will proceed with presidential and legislative elections in July-August after the Constitutional Court rejected an application by the opposition party, MDC, to nullify ZEC’s Delimitation report.
MDC which is led by Senator Douglas Mwonzora approached the courts seeking the nullification of the delimitation report claiming that it favoured the ruling ZANU PF.
What is delimitation?
Delimitation is a process of dividing a country into constituencies and wards for elections. An unbalanced delimitation that favours a party is called “gerrymandering” and can manipulate election results.
MDC claimed the February delimitation report favoured ZANU-PF. The Constitutional Court, however, rejected their application on the grounds that the MDC could not prove how fundamental rights were being violated and how the delimitation of constituencies affected those rights.
MDC Rejected the Court Outcome:
But the party’s president, Douglas Mwonzora, told reporters that the court dismissed the application because it does not hold jurisdiction and that the Constitutional Court had “made a political judgement.” Mwonzora said the judgement was unfair and they will continue to fight for free and fair elections. He stated that the delimitation report is flawed and could lead to a disaster, making Zimbabwe a laughingstock.
Lawyer Lovemore Madhuku who represented MDC said they want a court to declare the delimitation report invalid. They may go to the High Court to fight legally.
What if the delimitation report is invalidated:
If the delimitation report is declared invalid, it would mean that the electoral boundaries and precincts drawn by the report would be nullified and new boundaries would have to be created through a new delimitation process. This could potentially delay the upcoming elections in Zimbabwe, as a new delimitation process would need to be carried out. It is likely that a new delimitation process would take several months to complete.
The general elections must be held between 26 July and 26 August, to comply with Constitutional regulations that the election must come not more than 30 days after the expiry period of the current Parliament. Current laws also stipulate that a proclamation can only be made 44-88 days before the election date.